It's been a while since our last issue, but as always things continue to happen in the world of CC. There's been some interesting developments in the C&A as new guidelines have been brought into play to tackle some of the issues brought up recently among the community. More about the specifics with regards to Point-dumping can be found here. The Special Events team continues to entertain us with it's ongoing celebrations as voting proceeds on the Easter Egg Design Contest! with some quality submissions. And of course the 4th edition of the marathon encounters between Mods and Community continues amid intense viewing in the Whac-A-Mod IV.Even the dispatch itself has had changes aplenty as laughingcavalier takes a break after a long stint as Clan Executive (leaving me with some rather large shoes to fill ), and we've been privileged to bolster the team a bit with some further additions to the Clan and Freestyle teams. Even Victor Sullivan is experimenting with some intriguing concepts that you can see in our foundry section

Whac! Whac! Whac! I hope everyone had a good weekend whacking mods, keep an eye out for the final score as many casual games are still running. This edition we have an interrogation of laughingcavalier and a special random game analysis from DoomYoshi as he looks at the battle royale! As you can see we now have numerous people working on the scum insider so all you mafiaheads can look forward to an expanding section in future editions

Newbie HelpWant to get into the Mafia scene, but don't know how to play or even what it is? Consult these threads: Mafia Information, Mafia and You, and Rules and Terms of Mafia.Too much work? Too lazy to read through everything? No worries, you can always jump right into a game and ask for other players or the game runner to help guide you.

What is "Mafia"?Mafia, for those of you that don't know, is a game that generally takes place in a town, where the townspeople have to determine who the mafia (or "scum") is and lynch them via a majority vote during the day and the mafia try to kill everyone at night and bluff their way out of getting killed by the town.

Mafia NewsHey everyone, safari here. I'm happy to announce that Fircoal has agreed to help with the Scum Insider. So now we'll have some of the best (and silleh >:3) mafia players helping out.

In other news, the inaugural official mafia game run by TheSaxlad is well underway. The theme is the TeamCC mods and admins. You can follow all the action here. So far, they've uncovered 3 mafia players, 3 town players, and 1 cult recruited town player in the span of only 3 days and nights! The prize includes general achievement medals for the winning team. So if you're interested in playing some Official mafia games, keep an eye on the Insider as we'll announce the next game right here.

Mafia CalloutsCalling all players interested! Some mafia games need some filling:

This week, we're going to discuss a strategy that varies from person to person.

The Metagame

What is it?

Metagaming is when someone who has played a lot of games tries to infer roles or alignments of other people based on previous games. This can be applied to either the mod or other players in an attempt to logic out probabilities.

Example

Jack has modded 3 games before the current one. John, who has played in 2 of those games, notices that Jack tends to put busdrivers in his games. Therefore, John can meta into believing that there is probably a busdriver in the current game.

How to Use this Strategy

Metagaming is something that shouldn't be relied upon exclusively to play mafia. Obviously, it is useless for those people who just started playing or for games run by mods who haven't gotten a lot of experience. Possibly the most useful way of using metagame is when someone has claimed and everyone is trying to determine whether to believe him or not. Drawing on previous experiences, a player can step forward and try to convince the other players whether or not to believe the claimed player. It can also be used in larger games with established mods to try and figure out the number and makeup of mafia or third party players. However, meta must be used judiciously as it can never really be confirmed or disproved without hard evidence.

As promised: Here It is, the BIG one. Part 1 of the BIG one in any case.

Game 52329 was the first Battle Royale. As far as I can tell it was the first one ever. It started August 4th, 2006. To those who are more familiar with the current Battle Royale setup, they were not speed games back then. To give an indication as to why the games changed see another one: Game 1000001.

The epic first kill was achieved by Phx99(Moscow) who killed rmcdavid(Stockholm) about 8 minutes after the game started before the defender had even taken a turn. This was not the only Round 1 capture either.

biggsf73 of Sao Paulo killed youknow of Buenos Aires. Moscow was captured by Gen. Garcia(Astana) and Stockholm was captured by nascarfan38124(Berlin), killing Phx99(Moscow). Battle Royale strategy has evolved quite a bit since then, but being the first player to get a kill does not make a great strategy, especially back when there was still 24 hours of turns after yours.

Phew. Round 1 saw action in 5 continents. There were 2 intercontinental attacks, and North America was the bloodiest continent with successful attacks launched there. Africa was the least bloodiest continent with no successful attacks launched there. The eventual winner was based in Africa.

Round 1 was crazy. The next rounds will be even crazier. This game only lasted 5 rounds as the escalating cascade of cards led to ridiculously high troop counts.

Next Time: Part 2. Expect a continuation of the play-by-play but also some more real "analysis". Also, check out my new comic (also called Random Game Analysis). Also upcoming is the first-ever requested game for Random Game Analysis. Unfortunately, I lost the pm which requested the game, so if you are reading this - you need to resend it, and I will be more careful next time . Also, if you have any comments, questions, suggestions etc. I always love to get PMs so don't be afraid to fire one off.

Q. How are you enjoying being a monkey? It's great being a monkey. Our clan is one big happy quarrelsome family with some awesome players. Best bit is when there is a big challenge on and suddenly all the monkis appear out of the trees, banging their chests and calling for games, like fierce old grizzly bears emerging from hibernation.

Q. What is the best thing about running the clan section?The best bit is when all the clannies arrive in the newsletter thread, arguing about this and that or saying they enjoyed the paper.

Q. What's your favorite memory of being the clan executive/clan team editor?I think late one night when we were putting the issue to bed and Dai_atan appeared with this awesome set of clan logos he had made up, all layered & finessed & showing the essence of the clans. I've got no design skills whatsoever and it is really great to see the creativity that goes into a powerful design concept beautifully executed - there's so much visual creativity on CC with the sigs and the maps and all.

Q. Why is your cavalier laughing? Well, there's a painting by Frans Hals, but my cavaliers are much more the Prince Rupert variety from the English Civil War. Prince Rupert with his long-flowing black hair would lead his Royalist cavalry into action, they would smash the Parliamentary cavalry to pieces, the battle would be all but won… And then the cavaliers would charge off to plunder the Parliamentarians’ baggage train, leaving their infantry to be rounded up by the Parliamentary infantry… battle lost. …. Mind you, if I’d thought I would be here longer than a couple of evenings I would have tried harder with my username. And made it shorter to type.

Q. If I (Victor Sullivan) was standing right in front of you with no cops around, what would you do?

Call the cops?

Q. If you played blitz on a map and settings of your choosing, do you think you would win?I have a 100% record against reigning Conquerors. That it is a record of 100% defeats is easily explained. Against Scott-land I had something in my eye. Both times. I was a cook when King_Herpes farmed me on City Mogul (hmmm the game record shows I was playing with my regular partner on one of my favourite maps… Herpes must have broken into the gamelog to cover his tracks). Rabbiton and partner had kidnapped a small fluffy kitten and were threatening to torture it if I did not let them win. (Gosh, they seem to have wiped this out of the gamechat too!). To the Conqueror who offered me, err, access to his grandmother if I threw the game, this does not apply to you. Thanks mate - just tell me when you want a rematch. I am confident I could do as well against Blitz as against any of the others. Actually I’d like to see Blitz back. He tarnished his own reputation with his account sitting abuse and he should serve his time. But I’m appalled by the gang who have been looking for something to hang Blitz with for so many years. It’s just sad that some of the most eloquent and funniest people on CC have chosen to devote so much time and effort to trashing him.

Q. Is Sam02 actually your siamese twin?LOL... I thought I had got this crook in my neck from looking up to him.

Q. Does anyone besides sam call you "elsie"?It was Itchy (Iccinot Nabrus) who called me Elsie when we were playing with Kinky & Bones. lc – elsie: geddit? I wish everyone would call me Elsie. It’s as much fun as cross-dressing but you never have to wipe foundation off the pillow.

Q. What are your top 3 favorite---and not so favorable---memories of your time on Conquer Club?TOP: Just three? Well most of our favourite memories here are private and individual, and mostly about epic wins on our journey to conquer the world. Wins your opponents did not expect from you where your genius strategy destroyed them utterly. There are the no spoils games you play for months feeling ever-growing frustration, getting more and more wrapped up in, till finally the pieces fall into space and you make your final push for victory – Game 4266012 . And there are escalating games with the dramatic crash and clash; position, cash, charge, cash & charge again – Game 4088347. A few of our favourite moments are public. I love the laugh I get out of forum posts. One of the top contenders, because I so didn’t expect it as I opened the thread – http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=122025&hilit=Emmdizzle#p2685693.BOTTOM: Don’t remember.

Q. Do you ever dream about CC? If so, describe your dreams in detail, please.Late night, deeply dark, stormy. It’s raining. Big puddles on the pavement by the chainlink fence, and at the crossroads. We are in the city, but there’s little streetlight. We are walking back, Itchy, Kinky and I from our night out. “Let’s go to mine,” says Itchy.

There’s a group of young men looking threatening across the road. “Watch out for them, they may be dangerous,” says Itchy. He and Kinky speed up. I’m so tired, so out of it, but I follow. One of the men comes toward us across the road, calling out to us. Under a bridge, away from the man, but I lose Kinky and Itchy, I can’t keep up. They’ll be going to Itchy’s digs on the other side of the river. I know the rough direction, but I’ll never find it in this strange US city.

But right here across the road is Itchy’s actual house where we were staying earlier this week. Much better. I go in, through the little kitchen, past the bedroom. Itchy’s place is a bunglow, pretty low-rent. In the living room: the wall opposite is glass opening onto the pitch black, lit by low wattage ceiling bulb, a mess of chairs down the right hand side of the room, in the far left corner a large cathode ray tube TV on a brown draftsman’s chest. It’s a messy room, half-eaten meals and toy soldiers spread across the floor.

I sit on Itchy’s bed. A single bed which projects into the centre of the room, its head against the left-hand wall. I find Itchy’s stash: a roll of sterling banknotes. Nice enough stash but I hope it’s not his life-savings. I flick through it and replace it in its intricate hiding place jammed between the headboard and the wall.

On the wall, a creamy white wall, at waist height a long series of names is etched. Each name is set deep in the wall, in an oblong recess, the name etched in bold, in red. Each name has a number by it. This is the sequence of Itchy’s victories. Number 92, fairly early in the sequence, is by Itchy’s headboard. It begins speaking to me, in a woman’s voice. A man’s voice, her dubs partner, is calling too. “Is that Itchy? Itchy are you there? Are you up for a game?” The voices are coming from outside now, they are probably the gang we saw outside before, but they are not a threat any more, just looking for Itchy, want to play. I don’t answer: I like it here on my own…

A short while later I wake in Itchy’s bed. OMG. My plane home goes today. I’ll miss it. Gotta find my stuff. Gotta pack. Gotta find Itchy. I am totally stoned, completely out of it. I was wrecked when I went to bed and that was only a few hours ago, everything’s spinning, time is spread out sloooowww. I struggle up. The room is a total mess. Shit. It’s my mess. My conference ended Friday and I’ve been hanging out with the guys till now which is Sunday morning. I’ve made all this mess and totally lost track of time and what I needed to get done. I’ve no time to tidy and catch my plane, but I can’t leave Itchy’s place in this state. I look outside: it’s still dark. I’ll have time to tidy and catch my plane. Relief. I won’t get to see the guys before I go though. Never mind, the floor is covered in toy soldiers, they look a lot like mine from when I was a kid, someone has half got a game going, an attack toward the foot of the bed. I’ve got time to play with these while I tidy.

… I wake up in my bed this time, at home. It was interesting at Itchy’s I think, should be here at home though…

I am in Itchy’s front room again, but not alone. Kinky’s here. He’s sat in a cane chair by the window, chatting, the toy soldiers at his feet. I’m looking up at him. He’s almost human, but not quite. He’s more than human, super-powered. He’s very gray, gray skin, larger than human size, dressed in a gray suit. He’s old, very, very, very old. As he talks, his eyes turn on me, his head moving robotically. He is telling me stuff, wise stuff that humans don’t usually know. Actually stuff so wise I don’t really understand it.

…I wake in my bed at home again… It’s still the middle of the night… My daughter’s singing in the next door room….

Q. Have you been successful in recruiting any family or friends to play on CC? Or have they resisted your temptation?I did persuade my brother once. I guess he figured he had more chance of talking to me here than of me actually replying to my phonecalls. @) He managed one game. Well, half a game. I had to keep texting to tell him to take his move. It takes dedication to be a CC addict.

Q. If you were to post your World 2.1 conversations into a novel, how many pages would it be?LOL. Quite a few. But we’re quiet in our trips & quads, it’s dubs where we do the real chatting. We’re getting better. Sam & I used to take 20 minutes to decide on a fort…

Q. What is your favorite colour?Pink.

Q. Are you a wizard?It would be wrong of me to deny it. Most CC addicts, especially the high ranks, have massive egos and very little self-knowledge. I on the other hand am self-effacing and just magic.

Q. Why the move from the clan section leader of the newsletter?CC is a great place. It’s just got one problem. It’s full of these young guys packed full of testosterone who come online into a place where they show no inhibition and can behave appallingly. Team CC exists to bring manners, socialisation and civilization to those young men. We at the soft end of Team CC have enormous respect for the mods & the C&A team who do the hardest part of the job. But we entertainers play our part too, showing by shining example and through harmless fun how CC players everywhere may spread the joy. We do a great job. Our only failure, the only player beyond redemption was Army of God, but since Andy made Saxitoxin a secret mod, charged only with taking AoG under his wing and leading him to a better place, we may even win there…It is not an easy task socializing hordes of would-be conquerors, it takes great dedication and perseverance, and I realized I have just done all I can with the clans, they are as civilized as they possibly can be through the power of my persuasion. So I have moved on to try my hand in a new arena with the community at large.

Q. As someone who follows clans closely (former Clan Section Exec) Which war do you think has the biggest "wow" factor? KORT over THOTA or TFFS over ID??With the benefit of hindsight both these victories are entirely predictable. THOTA have been worried about their unbeaten record for a while, fearing luck is as likely to undo them as much as skill. And in the games I’ve played against some of the KORT gang lately they are as hard to beat as anyone on CC. Imperial Dragoons are a clan who have been around a long while and have a habit of bouncing back from dramatic losses with dramatic wins. I’ve played some of the TFFS guys in tourneys and they are tough teams. I think maybe their victory is more important than KORT’s in a way. It’s symbolic of the glut of new clans who have arrived with excellent players, smart organization and great futures. We have got some great competition ahead of us in the clan world.

Q. If you had to leave your wife, would you marry me (sam02)?Nope. I might let you drive my campervan.

Q. Do you thinks its random.org or odds calculator that is totally wrong?Actually it is lackattack’s aunty. The one who knits the dice. She has got her yellow wool mixed up with her white wool and we are all done for.

Q. Would you like to create a giant CC games with real people instead of troops?See dream.

Q. Do you have family troubles because you spend too much time on this site?LOL, I can’t say CC is popular chez moi. But since my wife discovered mumsnet I have had a bit of a let-off.

Q. Would you bring a CC mate you never saw in the reality home?Yes. First I would tell them to pretend they are my workmate so my wife didn’t harangue them.

Q.Do you like monkeys? ( not the clan players, but the real ones)Some of my best friends are monkeys.

Q.Is there any game that you will never forget? (for your own reasons)Oh great. Another chance to talk about my victories. There was the one where I came from 1 territory/3 armies to steal the game - Game 5134301.

Q.Do you laugh a lot ?I did wake myself up laughing the other night. I’d been dreaming I was playing a massive game of football with 100s of people and I’d hidden the ball in a tent.

Q. What are you looking forward to in your new position?We’ve already had whac-a-mod. That was pretty darn good.

Q. Who are your phunky phresh homies, if you had to pick three?Three is not enough – monkis, AoD, Dispatch, forumites, teammates….

Q. If you had to measure the awesomeness of clans using one of the following attributes, which would you use?Popularity/Drama, Win Percentage, Attitude, Percentage of blackjesusnessLike everyone I get wrapped up in the drama when there’s a good fight, whatever sort. But I get pretty tired of the clans who just keep on worrying an old bone when it’s been chewed over too long. I really admire the clans who have awesome players and awesome records. There’s an awful lot of clans I like but I think most of all I like the ones who go quietly about the business of winning, just so long as they give us something to laugh about or “ooooo” about every now and again.

Q. Do you think Gold Knight is a sexy blonde?Honey, I just know she is.

Q. Do you prefer cars or bikes? Which one you have?<Insert picture of my mountain bike here>

Q. Do you believe that you are sexy enough to get a woman such as Eva Mendes ?I had to stop seeing Eva. Kate Moss got jealous.

Q. Are you sexy enough to get skillful?The Greek Stallion? Never.

Q. Outside of Conquer Club what are your favourite activities?Probably reading bedtime stories to my children.

Q. What is the best book you've ever read?Again too many… as we are on Conquer Club I can admit to reading military history, and one of my favourites there is Defeat into Victory by General Slim, his gripping account of how he led the British to victory in Burma in World War 2.

Q. Conquer Man or Conquer 4?Conquer 4

Q. WWII Ardennes or WWII Gazala? Ardennes.

Q. How many days/hours could you go without Conquer Club without suffering withdrawal symptoms?About half an hour probably.

Q. Thanks for your time laughingcavalier!

Hi again amigos and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments. In this edition, Dukasaur has brought the best interview ever in the history of the Newsletter, an interview with me .

Angola is bringing us a new TPA Update, and Dukasaur is covering the Join this? or Not! because of real life health issues for our friend Soldierboy. We wish you the best and hope you get well soon.

And last, but not least, Sonicsteve talks about one of the most impressive achievements in CC: The 200th tournament win by HighlanderAttack.

jricart is someone who loves every aspect of CC. His enthusiasm for the site is obvious every time I talk to him. He runs tournaments, he runs our section of the newsletter, he's one of the small handful of foreign-language mods, and he's involved in a dozen other roles both large and small. But above all, he genuinely loves to play the game, and he plays it well.

On March 19th jricart won Shoop's Digging For Treasures tournament which began on Jan. 22nd. I was able to have a nice conversation about it with him.

jricart, I notice that you've won the Shoop's Digging For Treasures tournament. Would you be interested in answering some questions for the CC Dispatch?

Of course! I love answering questions for the CC Dispatch!

Sounds good! So what attracted you to this particular tournament?

The first thing that attracted me about that particular tournament was the organizer: Shoop76. He is a well recognized TO and somebody that I personally respect. The second thing that attracted me was the tournament setting: 1vs1, my favorite setup. The third thing: the Map! I love Treasure of Galapagos.Very nice! Okay, let's take these points one at a time. I'll come back to the first point, but let's start with the second. What is it you like about 1v1? (I have to ask, because so many people say that they love it, and I for one do not, lol.) In fact, Map Rank says you would be a General if you played only 1v1, so you're obviously very good at that style of game. What do you think makes you better at 1v1 than multiplayer?

Its funny that you mention my MapRank results. I just ran them about two days ago and yes, I would be General as you mentioned if I decided to play only that. In 1vs1, I depend on my own style of play only, my own luck with the dice, and my own mistakes. On multiplayer games, you have to deal with unexpected moves that other players make. I'm a pretty consistent high rank player. I always stay at Major for long periods of time, and that's a bad factor for me in multiplayer games: "They love to target the person with the highest rank to gain more points". Usually, you see alliances against high-rankers. Players often don't play for the overall fun of the games, but just for the points.

If I join tournaments or casual multiplayer games, I tend to do so more readily if they have point restrictions, like in the 2000+ Callout games, or Tournaments for Major+ only like "HA's Major+ Tourneys" by HighlanderAttack.

Well spoken -- a lot of interesting points there. You've expressed what a lot of players say about the reason they play 1v1, but I think the way you expressed it is probably the closest to hitting the nail on the head that I've seen.

The points conundrum is certainly a problem too. A major playing a private has to win 3 games out of 4 just to break even, and that's not easy in a game with so many random elements. I give you full credit for managing to keep your swords, playing in as many tournaments as you do! Interesting that today is the beginning of Whack-A-Mod. Are you expecting to get hit hard?

To be honest with you, I expect to hit hard! I'm lined up with great team members on dubs, trips and quads. And as you can imagine, I will play a bunch of 1vs1 speed games.Let's go back now to what you said about your admiration for shoop76. Of course I know that he's well-known on CC, and is a great tournament player in his own right with 55 tournament victory cups. But what specifically do you admire him for?

What can I say about Shoop76: He is a well organized TO. He's been doing a lot of tournaments and I always enjoy them a lot. I've known him since 2009 when I started my own Formula 1 Franchise tournaments. He joined most of the Race-Tournaments that year. As a player, he has great strategy and rarely make mistakes. If I face him in a 1vs1 game, I can tell in advance, no matter the map, that It will be a tough game. I have played 60 times against him on 1vs1, and I won 36, a 60% winning, so as you can see, I also have fun kicking his ass

You're a pretty accomplished TO yourself. Besides being 7th on the first page of the Tournament Winners Hall of Fame, with 45 victory cups, you're also 10th on the first page of the Tournament Organizer's Hall of Fame, with 66 completed tournaments, and a lot more on the way. What's your most memorable moment from this long and illustrious career?

I have 3 special moments in regards to winning tournaments:One is when I won my first tournament: Around Small Maps 1v1 Tournament 2 against one of my mentors: DJ Teflon. It was an amazing feeling because I was in 5 different finals before that win and couldn't do it. The second "special moment" for me was winning my first tournament against HighlanderAttack (another mentor) in Full Start Stadium. Check the chat, there is some funny stuff over there. And finally, but not less important, the third "special moment" was winning a long tournament that lasted several months: 2010 MLB Season

In regards to organizing tournaments, it makes me happy and proud to run International-Spanish Speaking only tournaments. Our community (Hispanic players in the Club de Conquista) is one of the biggest non-English speaking groups in Conquer Club. But the most important and the best completed tournament that I have ever run is the JRT's-2010 Formula 1 Championship. That tourney lasted 12 months and here are some stats from it:

12 Months of Racing Competition

19 Grand Prix

19 different maps

45 unique drivers

13 teams

264 total games

I won't ask a question about your foreign language tournaments, because I want you to write a feature article about those and I want you to save your comments about them for that article! (If you still remember this discussion. I also think you should do a feature article about the Formula 1 series!

Which brings us to another intriguing question: how did you get involved with running the Tournament Section of the newsletter, and how long have you been doing that?

A long time ago (about 2 years) I was part of the Newsletter Team as a reporter and I was in charge of putting together the list of tournaments signing up players, before the actual tournaments data base was developed.

After several months doing that, my wife got pregnant and the doctor informed us that it was a high risk pregnancy. Because of that, I decided to resign to my position and cut back my game load in order to dedicate more time to my little son and wife, and of course house duties as well.

Around the mid-October 2010, Samuel812 and AndyDufresne contacted me to offer me the Tournament Newsletter Head position, because I was helping the Tournament Directors rescue abandoned tourneys and was training/helping first time TO's organize their tournaments. A few samples of my help:

So after trying it I decided to accept the position and I think I'm performing pretty well as a Team CC member.

You've certainly kept our Tournament Section fully staffed and active! Well, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I especially like how you took the time to dig up the links for me! Best of luck in all future endeavours!

One concluding note: when I volunteered for this project, I offered to interview "all of the tournament winners." How naive I was! I had no idea what a staggering number of tournaments there really are. Now I know there is no way I will be able to get to everyone. I intend to publish one or two interviews in every edition of the Dispatch, but even so I will probably only get to talk to about 5 or 10 percent of all the winners. My approach will be partially random and partially targeted. Some will be chosen because of their fame or amazing stats, some will be chosen because I find the tournament they were in to be unusual or especially interesting, and many will be chosen completely at random. I will pay special attention to those that are winning a tournament for the very first time. If you are looking forward to telling the story of the exciting tournament that you were just in and want to be on my list, please feel free to PM me any time.

Mr. Steve is still atop the Scoreboard and even increased his lead slightly in the past two weeks. He now has 40.62 points, while HighlanderAttack is still in second with 35.14 and MudPuppy has overtaken Timminz for third place with 33.86.

Be sure to visit the Create/Join a Tournament area to sign up for future TPA events, which will be ending in the next month or so.

There are so many tournaments available that it's a shame we can only mention a few of them here. Some of the most interesting concept tournaments currently accepting sign-ups are the following.

Absolutely one of the most innovative tournaments I have seen in a long time is 21st Century Clash of the Statesmen hosted by WorldCup4James. In this tournament you start on your choice of NYC, Chicago, San Francisco or Charleston and attempt to become "elected" first regional governor and eventually President of the USA. Initial settings will be Automatic Chained Escalating Sunny, but if you win a "constitutional amendment" round you can change the "Constitution" and thereby change the game settings.

If you like Doubles, or Random maps, or both, you will love In honor of Mcshanester29 hosted by DoomYoshi. 32 teams will face each other in an elimination-bracket type tourney. The only map used is the Random map, but you will be able to choose your favorite settings for two games in each best-of-5 series. The tournament has an interesting origin... I will say no more and let you read it for yourself, except to point out that I am peripherally involved in this...

Another interesting Doubles tournament is disguised as Quads. 313's The Players Championship Quads hosted by merch313. Merch is apparently a bit of a golf aficionado, and this tournament is based on the Player's Championship golf tournament. In this tourney you must sign up as a team of 4, but for actual game play you will be separated into two Doubles teams. Each team will play on 18 maps representing the 18 holes of a golf course.

Anyone who has played in a tournament or two will know the name HighlanderAttack (HA) and those who love the tournament side of CC will know the name very well indeed.

To celebrate his amazing achievement of organizing his 200th tourney, HA has turned it into the largest single tournament that CC has seen to date with well over 2000 entrants. Along with running this mammoth undertaking he has also just won his 200th event as an entrant.

To put this into context, the next highest number of wins by one player is 79 (blitzaholic) followed by 59 (Dbandit70).

What is perhaps even more astonishing than winning so many events is the timeframe involved in doing so. HA passed the 100 wins mark last July and it has taken him less than one year to repeat the feat with a second century.

The knockers and mockers will try to argue that it's easy to win lots of events if you enter everything going and then one can quickly rack up a tally of 16-player tourney wins.

Just go out and try it. If it was so easy there would be many who had achieved this feat and there simply aren't. A 16-man event may sound easy, until you realise that you still have to beat 15 other people, then beat 15 people 200 times over. HighlanderAttack has won his fair share of larger events amongst that count of 200 too.

If you believe you could replicate this feat, just pause to think about gameload. If you want to win 100 events in under a year then your active games will be well over 100 and will stay at that level, but you still have to find time to take turns properly to get the wins, and if you are HA, you have to find the time to organise multiple events, too.

Congratulations HA from the newsletter tournament team on a stupendous feat, and good luck with the next 100.

Hey folks! Psyched as ever to bring you the next set of Foundry lovin'! And I have three very important announcements: No_Risk_No_Fun, our Foundry Filmmaker, has completed a preview of his upcoming Dispatch video series, "Foundry Featurette", we have a new fortnightly tradition, and I'm officially taking on apprentices to make those interested into informative and analytical map commenters! And of course, OliverFA brings us another another "Classic" this issue: Rail USA. Enjoy!

Each issue, we will now be discussing a different Foundry topic in the Foundry Discussions forum. This issue's discussion is Favorite XML Feature.

What is your favorite aspect of a map? There are bombardments, auto-deploys/decays, losing conditions, one-way attacks, killer neutrals, and so much more! So many choices! Which would you choose? Hop over to the topic in Foundry Discussions now and share your favorite feature and why!

Hey, folks! Interested in getting more involved in Foundry affairs, but feeling uninformed or just don't know where to start? No worries! The Foundry needs willing commentators much like your eager self (as I'm sure you are ), so I've created a Foundry Apprenticeship program! I'll teach you how to become a top-notch map analyzer by a step-by-step individually-designed program. Graduates of the program get the opportunity to be on the Dispatch Team as a Foundry Reporter! I currently have two folks that I am currently mentoring and so far the program has been successful! I will likely accept all applicants, so please, PM me if you are remotely interested in joining or if you simply want to check out the program.

Nowadays, the Foundry is plenty of life. We enjoy a continuous stream of creativity and talent. Thanks to the effort of dedicated mapmakers, new additions are quenched regularly. And many more maps are in the works.

But there are also maps that were created long ago. Maps that despite having been with us for long time still feel fresh like the first day. Every day, many games are played on those maps. Those maps are true jewels that have stood the test of time. They are real Classics. They deserve our attention despite the time that has passed since they were created. Or maybe because of that.

Rail USA a map by cairnswk and WidowMakers

Our last review took us to the US and the USSR. This time we are coming back, but only to the US, as we are reviewing the Rail USA map.

At first glance, we can look at the map and reach the wrong conclusion that it is "yet another US map". Well, it certainly features the US, but it's gameplay is completely different from a Classic-like map. Usually, maps feature political divisions (countries, states, provinces, or any other kind of administrative division), but Rail USA features cities instead. Or to be more exact, rail stations placed in cities. That's the first difference.

The second difference is that instead of being connected by borders, territories (cities) are connected by railway lines between them. I guess that this time we can really say they are connected So it is like if you wanted to conquer the US; but the existing railway lines were the only way to move your troops across the country. To attack a particular city, you need to be able to reach it by railway. Consequently from any given territory (station) you will only be able to attack other stations in the line or other stations in the city if there are more than one lines in that city.

The third difference is that territories (cities) tend to have few connections, except for hubs. Many cities have only two borders, because they are in the middle of the line. This is a big contrast with the common map where territories tend to be very open. You have to change your mind if you want to be successful in this map. Ownership of the hubs becomes very important, because those are the very few areas from which you can access several parts of the map. There is a big and important hub, Chicago, where 8 lines converge. It is also some sort of mini free for all zone, because at Chicago the 8 stations attack each other.

And what about the bonus regions? Being the theme about railways, the bonus regions have to be the lines. So, that's the fourth difference. Bonus regions are long lines which are only connected at both extremes and at one or two point in the middle. The good part is that defending bonuses it's easy. The bad part is that achieving bonuses it's not so easy. Once again, control of the Chicago Hub becomes really important.

So Rail USA, like the two previous classic maps we reviewed, is a perfect way to look at Conquer Club from another point of view. Change your mind and fight in a closed map instead of an open one. Achieve control of hub points, specially Chicago, because they are the only areas in the map that will allow you to take alternative ways. And be prepared for a mini free for all battle in Chicago. Passengers, the train is departing!

In this edition of the clan section, we have another in-depth analysis of the 2nd Annual Conqueror's Cup by yours truly, a brief synopsis on Newcomers Cup action by jigger1986, we welcome back BoganGod to the team after a short hiatus as he mulls over a scenario faced by many among the clan scene, Blackknight_6 discusses the dynamics of forums within the clan, and Master Fenrir returns for another gripping column on HardBalls as he tackles what it really means to be Conqueror!

And so, we're off to the Second Round already. A lot of the matches and games are still in their infancy, but lets see if we can get you an update on the action as it happens.

0 vs. 0The Horseman of the Apocalypse vs. The Bullet Proof Bandits- Our first match-up sends us to an epic encounter between two clans embroiled in a vicious battle to ensure victory. The duel in the forums alone has been filled with magic fireballs, baited hooks and subtle stabs. That however led to a call from up above to halt proceedings while ban hammers fell on some disreputable players. The battle on the playing fields continues nonetheless, and indeed blood has been spilled on the plains of North America as an unwary apocalyptic cavalryman was unhorsed by the armored bandits. A victory by either side however remains some distance away.

4 vs. 3Agents of Chaos vs. The Fantastic Four-skins- Confirmed Clan League Season 3 Finalists AoC have had a good run of late since their last defeat in CL2 Div2 Finals over half a year ago. However, they're now coming up against a clan that since it's inception has had some impressive performances in that same time-period, albeit against opposition on the lower end of the spectrum. However, tffs pulled off the upset of the first round when overcoming 9th seeds Imperial Dragoons to prove their pedigree, and look to pull off another formidable performance against the clan seeded just 1 higher than their previous opponents. Indeed there is little to tell between the teams on the current scoreline with both clans giving a good showing in their home sets.

6 vs. 1Legends of War vs. ++The Legion++- The duel between 2 of the oldest and most experienced clans in competition today has been an eagerly anticipated encounter with predictions going either way. However, LoW have again started strongly after being in a similar position in the previous round of this edition of the CC. With the lead already being up to 5 and low having even more wins in the offing, the balls firmly in Legions court to mount a come-back.

1 vs. 1The Spanking Monkeys vs. A Fistful of Sixes- Both these clans consist of some very experienced campaigners on the clan scene, with Afos having members from clans formed in the early years of clan gaming and Tsm always having been considered a formidable outfit since their forming a fair few years back. While both clans have had relatively little publicity of late, they've both shown their abilities after upsetting quality opposition recently. Tsm overcame Tofu (who were undefeated in clan competitions prior to that) in the CL3 Quarterfinals while Afos upset Mythology(who were also quarter-finalists in that self-same competition) in the first round of CC2. The battle between these two clans is as close as the current scoreline suggests, and while Tsm continue to be favourites as their seeding indicates, their is still a lot more games to be played before we can determine a winner.

1 vs. 1Knights of the Round Table vs. Generation One- Defending Champions and 3rd seeds Kort have another meeting with G1 in this edition of the cup. After drawing in their first encounter, but winning fairly comfortably in their second (which was intriguingly at the same stage of the inaugural cup), the clan fondly deemed as cows should be confident in overcoming the clan more comfortable with their robotic side. However, this match is yet another still evenly poised, so there really is no telling at this stage.

3 vs. 0Fraternal Order of Exceptional Drinkers vs. Immortal Assassins- With both clans fighting on as much as 3 fronts against quality opposition coming into this duel, there was definitely some intense competitive spirit floating around. The banter in the thread may have suffered, but Foed have definitely shown their intent in the games after storming to an early lead. Perhaps IA have been more heavily taxed with their CL3 Semi duties alongside their clan war loss to Empire as Foed have not in their convincing performances in the 1v1 Semi's against Nemesis and Clan War win against legion, but there is no doubt that IA have all to play for in order to recover their prestige that has suffered of late.

1 vs. 1Empire vs. Nemesis- This is an interesting encounter to see how the make-ups of the clans has changed since their last encounter in late '09. Established leaders like Chephren/Chuuuuck for Empire, and Stroop/HardAttack for Nemesis have either retired or moved on to other clans respectively. Even current experienced leaders like Lubawski and Cpurcell have decreased their activities heavily of late due to rl commitments. And even though Empire seem to gain an advantage with drop and dice in the first set, and there's an intriguing rank disparity among the clans (with Empire having a large amount of colonols and brigs alongside the Conqueror himself, compared to the 1 sole hat among the Nemesians), there's a sense among the paddock that Empire's disappointing run in knock-out competitions will continue and that Nemesis will go 1 better after their unseemly dumping on a last minute tie-breaker to #1 Seeds Thota in the previous Cup.

1 vs. 3Brethren of the Fat Mermaid vs. The Odd Fellows Union- And so, we finally come to another rematch of the 1st Cup, where the Pirates take on a Tofu outfit who were so controversially ejected from the Semi-finals last time around in this competition. And despite that upset, they've only gotten stronger after gaining new recruits, in Entertainment Mod jricart and former Grim Reapers leader jrh_cardinal, alongside virtual behemoths in the clan scene in the form of former Spanking Monkey's Member Seulessliathan and Cup Organizer Chuuuuck. On the other hand however, they face a Bofm outfit brimming with confidence after sweeping aside their opposition in the Cup First Round. Tofu do seem to have the advantage in the early exchanges, but they can't afford to get complacent against these pirates who've been on a formidable 8 game winning streak of late.

So there you have it folks, the down and dirty on the second round of the 2nd Annual Conquerors Cup. Pretty quiet in the early stages because of the predominant quads and trips in play, but next time you can look forward to an exciting update on how the Round is progressing with 2nd set batches being released soon and results coming in thick and fast.

The second round of the Newcomers Cup is heating up and the competition to make it to the finals is fierce. With 3 semi-final wars the winners will play a round robin style three way clan war to decide the winner. However to make it there, teams must first push past the second round. Here is a look a the match-ups:

Sorry stalkers, fans, trolls, and jealous types out there in CC world. Sorry for my long absence from dispensing my drunken wisdom from the bowels of The Fat Mermaid. Tis very sad to say, but the BoganGod you are love/fear/loathe/envy has had to deal with real life. Damn it. Have had a few months where I've only taken turns, not even checked my inbox or corresponded with my many disciples in drunken frivolousness. God being a responsible adult suxes arse. So after the initial rambling preamble that you all expect. On to the real topic at hand. How does a busy schedule fit into clan life? Simple answer, it doesn't..... But, and its a big butt(almost as big as the butt of the leather fetish artist now know as anonymus). Yes you english language sticklers out there, I started a sentance with but..... Yes I know I'm a naughty boy.

Once more will attempt to address the topic I'm trying to write about. A busy schedule can be fitted into clan life, I've had to do it for the past few months. One just plays only the clan war games and tournament games, that one is needed for. I couldn't play silly stuff which I normally like to play, as I just didn't have the time. I also resigned as a pirate leader, as I knew I wasn't going to have the time to run clan things. The main thing I found was that I had less to do with the strategy of planning the next moves for the clan in the cut throat world of clan competition, and I had to trust that the more active members would make the right choices. I believe they have(well its obvious they have, probably better than my drunk rambling self could have). I really missed the daily sledging, speed games, and the entire social side of CC. Yes I know that is lame. So in conclusion to this first little article back at the print desk. I have found that it is possible to have a busy schedule and maintain a CC presence. Just that it is a presence that is a shadow of what I was when I was playing a lot. Am still a bit nervous about committing to a large game load(by large I mean 20+), so am playing a fair bit of 1vs1 and speed.

Which I need to do...... For the other long team players out there. Just try to budge your win percentage from 47 to 50 when you've played almost 10,000games. Takes a while. Good to be back with my nose in ink. The parrot is screaming that its my round, so I must be off. Damn bird shits in my rum tankard if I drag the chain for even a few minutes.

Fun with forums!Clan warriors need to have a bit of R&R, and for this article I thought I'd try something different. Apart from fighting other clans and fighting each other within a clan, what kind of stuff can you and your members get up to in your clan forum? In this article, I'd like to suggest ten activities that you can do within your clan forum to add a bit of difference and spice. Some I've tried, some I've heard of and some I'd like to try out some day.

Idea 1: The ScoreboardOne of our clan leaders, TheCrown, has a sticky post called the Scoreboard. He updates it every few days with our ongoing war scores, past war scores and upcoming wars. It's a very handy thing to have and keeps everyone in the loop of what's going on in that department.

Idea 2: Clan code of conductWe floated this idea awhile back, to start a thread where we discussed an internal code of conduct in wars. I could see something like this generating potentially a lot of discussion.

Idea 3: Tips ThreadIn this thread you could share tips and strategy (unless you already have a training school usergroup set up).

Idea 4: Fight ClubThis could be a thread where clan members can challenge each other for fun, glory and bragging rights. In the New Crusade we are thinking of setting up a Clan Jousting Corner that would be just for that purpose.

Idea 5: Clan member statsKeep a membership list here with number of wins each player has had in clan wars, or highest rank achieved. Or however you want to measure each other up. One idea we had was to have ranks within the clan depending on number of wins in wars, cool things done for the clan etc.

Idea 6: Clan art Set up a thread and ask clan members to submit photos, paintings, cool images found on the web that represent the clan. These can be used for future sigs, or taunts in other wars.

Idea 7: Oddball question Sometimes a clan member just wants to throw a question out there. I started a discussion once with the question "Where is the strangest place you've played a clan war turn?" which generated a lot of funny results.

Idea 8: TournamentsThis is the place where clan members who are setting up tournaments in Conquer Club can inform their clan buddies about it first.

Idea 9: Crazy pollsWe went through a period of doing fun little questionnaires using the poll feature in our clan forum. We had polls on Favourite Sport to watch/play, Favourite Video Game, Favourite War film etc. We've even had polls along the lines of "Do you think TheCrown will reach the rank of Field Marshall"?

Idea 10: Clan Souvenir ShopThis could be like the Clan art thread, but it would be a collection of your different clan sigs that people could grab and use.

So... there are ten ideas. Does your clan do any of these things? Are there other cool things you all do to pass the time between your wars? Drop me a line and share!

While the conqueror title and who wears it is not specifically a clan issue, when the person who is conqueror is also in a clan, it becomes a very big issue indeed.

Approximately three weeks ago, our then-conqueror, Blitzaholic, received a 1-month ban after being found guilty of account sitting abuse. For some, this was a day of great sadness. A day of mourning the likes of which have not been seen since January of 1993, because once again, this was the day...

Click image to enlarge.

However, for most of the vocal clan community, it was a day of celebration and rejoicing. High fives have never been given higher. Glasses were crushed under heel. At least two dozen children were conceived that night based on early estimates.

A side-effect of Blitz's ban was that he was removed from the scoreboard. In his place, ljex became conqueror. rabbiton showed up shortly thereafter, taking the title, but ljex has since re-claimed his position at the top and currently sits with a 78 point lead.

MegasWoman wrote:MF? wth are you waiting for? go get you some of that!

While it was not the first time that I considered possibly making a run for the title, I quickly dismissed the thought for two reasons. The first is that I know that I can defeat any of the top team players on Conquer Club. I'm not saying that I could post a flawless win record against them, but I can beat them. I am content with that knowledge. The second reason is that becoming the conqueror is a headache.

There are obviously those who have still been willing to accomplish this achievement, and I was curious as to why they did so, knowing what was in store for them. Here are 3 questions I posed to some of our former conquerors and some of their selected responses:

Assuming you had to put forth effort to attain the Conqueror title, why was it that you tried for the title, as in, what was your motivation?

demonfork wrote:It was one of the hardest goals to achieve that I ever set for myself, inculding getting my masters deg. in mechanical engineering. My motivation is that I wanted to be #1 plain and simple.

thebest712 wrote:It is an achievement. At first I just wanted to go for score for a time and see what happened, but Ninja Champion motivated me to go for conqueror. (edited for clarity)

comic boy wrote:It was nice to get to the top because it showed the cynics that it was possible via standard single games rather than farming with teams. I wasn't hugely motivated though and really got there because of luck and good timing, good run of wins came together thats all. I didnt change anything once I became Conqueror . still played the type of games I enjoyed, thats why I only lasted about 5 minutes

JOHNNYROCKET24 wrote:I achieved this twice. The first time was to be number one which obviously only a handful of players have done. The 2nd time was because my reign was very short the first time because someone, I forget who at the moment, won a battle royale and became number one from all the points he won from that game.

King_Herpes wrote:It's just my nature. When I play a game, I play it until I've won. Then tinker with it afterwards if it's still enjoyable. Kind of like p***y.

No matter who is Conqueror or what methods they used to achieve it, the Conqueror is usually on the receiving end of a lot of hate. Do you have any theories on why?

demonfork wrote:There will always be haters, those that have no ability to acheive their own goals so they must bash others that can, that said I received way more positive feedback than I did negative.

comic boy wrote:Many people have unrealistic expectations of the Conqueror and expect him to take on anybody who asks , this and jealousy fuels the fire. Also there is the issue of gaming the system , you simply cannot remain at the top for an extended period without farming to some extent and many resent this.

JOHNNYROCKET24 wrote:Simply because everyone is jealous of what they cant achieve. It takes alot of patience and constant watching of your games to make sure you dont make a bad move or frustration because you played everything correctly only to lose because of some lopsided dice or poor play of another player that you cant control. I actually researched opponents before joining any game vs them. Basically it is time consuming.

King_Herpes wrote:People fear(player) what they do not understand(game). Win or shut up.

Aside from yourself, who was your favorite conqueror, and why?

demonfork wrote:King_herpes...he is the greatest to ever play this game and the only person that I trust on this site.

comic boy wrote:Leaving aside any THOTA guys ( Ho Hum ) I would say that my favourite Conquerors would be the standard sequential players such as maniacmath or poo.

JOHNNYROCKET24 wrote:I never really looked at it that way....on who my favorite was. I know at least half of them dint deserve it.

King_Herpes wrote:demonfork by a long shot. He's the only other conqueror I've conversed with enough to know he has a realistic approach towards the Internet. It's a game where you have no face and he leads others to believe that he doesn't know how to keep that in perspective. It's hilarious.

So I started thinking about it. JR24 brought up the point of how time-consuming and grinding the process is, how the process is a marathon and not sprint. Frankly, I don't have that much time on my hands. And just to be clear, that's not a jab at any former conqueror for having that much time; I just don't have it.

But what would my reign as conqueror be like? Well, I believe that if a person manages this achievement, they should have the swagger to match the title. Whether they're seen as hero or heel, a conqueror should at least be considerate enough to play the role and laugh while doing so. Keeping in mind what Herpes said about a realistic approach towards the internet, I believe I would play the heel, as that has to be more fun. So with this in mind, I give to you the ten things that I would do to make everybody hate me as conqueror.

1. Random game chat messages to remind people that I am conqueror. See: Game 8802838

2. As the "king" of Conquer Club, I would institute a point-tax. Five percent of all points earned would be paid directly to me on a monthly basis. Because I'm flexible, I would give you the option of paying me at the end of each game when you won your points, or at the end of every month in one large sum. It just makes good sense. The fact that no former conqueror has suggested this in the Suggestions forums is beyond me.

3. Because I know that he loves e-mail correspondence with conquerors, I would send gannable daily e-mails informing him that my record against him is 7 wins and 5 losses. Though a 2 game lead might appear small and even insignificant to some, I would describe it to him as "complete dominance." I would also tell him that I use haxorz.

4. I would stop playing team games. Once a month, in UFC fashion, I would play a 1 vs. 1 game against a challenger. The game would be played with fog of war. I would charge would-be spectators $5 for screen shots and $2 for the right to post in the game chat.

5. I would change my signature to this, which would be double-annoying because I intentionally made it crappy with MS Paint:

6. I would stop communicating normally, and only speak using internet acronyms and trash talk. Here is an example of the gamechat you could expect to see in one of my monthly games:Challenger: glMaster Fenrir: tl;drChallenger: How?Master Fenrir: Come at me, bro.Challenger: That's kind of why I'm here...Master Fenrir: Because ur jelly?Challenger: Whatever. Let's just play the game.Master Fenrir: BK is mad.Note: BK = bad kid

7. Knowing full well that people would get tired of my antics and add me to their foe list in an attempt to avoid my gamechat and forum posts, I would take it to the next level and start making house calls. While taking your morning shower and reaching for the body wash, you would hear the shower curtain being pulled aside. You would look up to find me. "Hey, I'm the conqueror. Want me to get your back?"

9. I would adopt a Genghis Khan-style mentality towards clan wars. When a clan was defeated by my clan, all males between the ages of 11-70 would be eliminated. All females would be assimilated into my clan and be forced to listen to my clanmates stories of insobriety.

10. Lastly, I would create a social user group for myself and all former conquerors. Once a good amount of them had joined, I would boot them all out for not being conqueror enough.

So there you have it. That's why I would be the most hated conqueror ever. If you became nervous just reading that, you can relax. I'm down 180 points from playing 1 vs. 1 Whac-a-Mod games. Damned jelly community...